


Shane

by ILoveDin



Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Frotting, Masturbation, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Romance, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-22
Updated: 2020-08-26
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:54:10
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26049109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ILoveDin/pseuds/ILoveDin
Summary: Shane gets trapped in the mines with the new farmer girl he tried to stay away from.
Relationships: Shane (Stardew Valley)/Original Character(s), Shane/Female Player (Stardew Valley), Shane/Player (Stardew Valley)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 62





	1. Chapter 1

It was already late afternoon when Julia stepped into the stardrop saloon. She had worked all day again, having moved to the old farm just a week ago, but today she had decided to finally get to know some of the town's people. Stepping further inside to make sure she didn't block the door, she checked everyone's faces. She already knew Lewis, the mayor, who seemed to flirt with a brunette lady. A blonde, middle-aged women sat at the bar, concentrating on her drink. The red-haired guy near the door seemed deeply focused on the female bartender instead.

Then, her gaze fell on a dark-purple haired guy, standing quietly in a dark corner. He seemed more her age, though he was probably still older than her. Their gaze met for a second, but he immediately shifted his, avoiding her. Reluctantly, she approached him, seeing him stiffen as she drew closer. After putting up her friendliest smile, she tried to think of a way to approach him, how to introduce herself, but right when she opened her mouth, she got interrupted.

“Are you the new farmer?” A curious blonde guy looked her up and down, smiling friendly.

“Yeah, hello! I'm Julia!”

“I'm Sam! You wanna hang out with us?” he gestured towards two other teenagers in another part of the room, further away. She nodded happily. This was great, since getting to know people was her goal!

Sam got four glasses of cola from the bar and went back to his friends. Before following him, she peeked into the corner again, checking on the dark-haired guy, but he had turned away. Shrugging her shoulders, she followed Sam.

“These are Abigail and Sebastian!” They both looked up at Julia and Sam, taking their drinks from him. “Hi! You can call me Abby!” smiled the purple-haired girl, Abigail. Sebastian nodded friendly.

“Nice to meet you, I'm Julia, I moved into the old farm” A bit reluctantly, she sat on a couch.

“Do you like gaming?” Abigail grinned. Julia thought for a second.

“Yeah, I guess, though I won't be able to play any games in my old farm house. I only have an old tube TV” she laughed.

“You can come over sometimes and play with me!”

They kept talking about games, asking each other about their favorites, giggling happily when they found they had some favorites in common. Sebastian and Sam chimed in from times to times, and Julia noticed that Sebastian preferred to play on PC, while Sam only ever played when he was over at one of their friend's houses.

After quite a while, they said their goodbyes to each other and the three friends left the saloon. Hesitating, she looked over that other guy in his corner, feeling a little bad for abandoning the idea of introducing herself to him, deciding she'd do it now. Their eyes met again, and he tensed, turning away again. She gathered all her courage, walking over, sitting on a barstool beside him.

“Hello, I'm Julia” she smiled at him. He took a big gulp before answering.

“Leave me alone.”

Silence. He never turned around to her, never even looked at her. She stared at him in disbelief. Well, he  _ did _ seem like he wanted to be left alone, but it's not like she tried to strike a big conversation for hours, she just wanted to say hi.

“Sorry” she whispered quietly, sliding off the barstool and leaving the saloon. She didn't see the guy crunch up his face painfully, swearing quietly to himself.

Laying in bed, she tried to think about her nice conversations with Sam and the others, but somehow her mind always wandered off to the rude statement of the dark-haired guy. She rolled around unsatisfied. She cursed herself for trying to talk to him. He obviously wanted to drink in peace, and she probably invaded his privacy. Why did she still try, even though he gave off those signals? She had to admit, he had seemed... attractive to her.

–

A few days later, she went into the town early, planning to buy seeds. A little annoyed, she noticed the shop was still closed until nine. She strolled through the streets and noticed she was walking by the saloon, now staring through the windows while walking by, thinking about the stuff that happened a few days ago in there. That guy...

“Ouch!”

She looked up from the chest she had walked into and looked into a surprised and again, annoyed face of exactly the guy she had been daydreaming of. In daylight, she could finally see his face more clearly, examining his facial features. He had stubbles, and on a closer look, she noticed he had an undercut.

Dark, tired eyes met hers, and she snapped out of it, almost jumping a bit away from him. Her face felt hot and she hoped she didn't look ridiculous, blushing and staring like an idiot.

“I'm so sorry! I didn't see you” she apologized, bowing down a little in embarrassment. He just grunted, walking by her without answering. Rude, she thought.

She stared after him, noticing she was wearing a Joja shirt. Was that the reason he was walking around the town so early? She made a mental note not to take a step into JojaMart, avoiding him.

Later, after planting her new seeds from Pierre's, she decided to follow a tip he gave her, visiting a ranch south from her farm. So she did, working a way through her farm, removing large grass and stones. By the time she reached the ranch, sun was already going down. She rushed to the door, hoping it'd still be open. She beamed when she could open the door, stepping inside, only finding an empty counter.

She looked around, wondering whether she should leave, when a door creaked open. She smiled happily. “Hello!”

Instead of the middle-aged woman called Marnie she had expected, she stood face to face with  _ that _ guy again. Her smile dropped, but she forced herself to smile again.

“Uh, sorry, I thought this was Marnie's ranch. Guess I got a little lost...”

He ran his fingers through his hair, sighing, and she noticed his hair was wet.

“No, this is her ranch. She already closed hours ago though. Did you want to buy livestock?” He walked to the counter, leaning against it. She couldn't help feeling surprised, noticing this was the very first time he talked to her in a normal way. Well, probably because she was a customer now.

“Not yet, but hopefully soon. I just wanted to...” She paused, feeling awkward, thinking of her first conversation with him. “...to introduce myself to her. Maybe check out the animals and what else her shop has to offer”

The guy nodded. “You can come in tomorrow between 9 and 4 o'clock. I have to leave now.” With that, he pushed himself away from the counter, standing straight again, staring at her expectantly. She quickly nodded and left, deciding to walking back to the saloon, so her little trip at least had some kind of purpose. Plus, it was Friday again, so Sam and the others were probably in there, and she really needed a nice conversation without any tension.

After a few steps, she heard that sigh again, following the sounds of footsteps. Right. He was in the saloon last time too, and this was probably his destination again. Walking awkwardly in front of him for the whole walk definitely wasn't a thing she was pumped about. Feeling encouraged by how good their last conversation just now went, she stopped, turning around to him. He slowed for a moment, avoiding her gaze, but still caught up to her after a few steps.

“Walking to the saloon?”

He only grunted, averting his gaze.

“Well, I'm going there. Last time I only drank cola. I really need a drink today.” She laughed a little, trying to hide how tense she felt. Finally, he looked at her.

“Me too.”

The rest of the walk felt a lot less stiff, but as soon as they stepped into the saloon, Sam rushed to her, asking her for her opinion about a discussion he had with Sebastian. Before following Sam to their corner, she turned around to look back at Shane. She found he was looking at her, and felt like she was catching him off-guard, as he seemed surprised and quickly turned away, walking into the corner he had stayed in last time. So she followed Sam.

–

The next time she saw him was a day later inside the mines. She looked at him in surprise as he stepped in, not having expected anyone to even get close to this place.

“Hey there! What are you doing here?” She shifted to stand upright, holding her sword down relaxed, trying not to be obvious that she was an amateur.

“Charlie ran inside... I can't find her!” he looked panicked and she felt surprised seeing him that emotional for the first time. “There are monsters in here, right?” he asked, now looking at her, and now he looked surprised too. “What are **you** doing here?

“Fighting some monsters, collecting some gems, you know.” she stated.

“Do you even know how to handle that sword?”

“Of course I do! Look-” she swung it around, showing off her 'skills', but made the sword crash into the stone wall beside her. “Oops,” she whispered, not yet worrying, because at first everything seemed okay, but then she heard a loud thud, following by a shake in the ground. They both stared at the new pile of rocks that blocked off the mine's entrance and... exit. The only exit.

“Maybe I **should** learn more about how to handle the sword...” she murmured quietly, scared of his reaction. Without a word, he turned around from the blocked exit and went further into the mine.

“What are you doing?”

“I don't have time for this. I need to find Charlie.”

She kept standing there, looking at the ground in embarrassment. She should probably follow and help him...

**Cluck**

She turned her ear towards the exit. What was that?

**Cluck cluck**

There was definitely a chicken outside, free, not trapped like them. She sighed. Lucky chicken. Then she quickly followed him, opening her mouth to shout his name, just to realize she still didn't know it. Luckily, she still found him quickly.

“If Charlie is a chicken, I probably found her!”

He turned around quickly, relief showing on his face. “Where is she?”

She gestured towards the exit. “She's outside, clucking happily. I think she's okay.”

He sighed audibly.

For a moment, they stood there awkwardly, not knowing what to do or to say.

“Let's go back to the exit and shovel our way out,” she went back and picked up her pickaxe from the ground, starting to work on the pile. Reluctantly, he went to her pile of tools and decided to use the hoe to help. It didn't work as smoothly, but they somehow had to get through that pile if they didn't want to die in here.

–

Nighttime came, they couldn't see it since there was no daylight, but they could feel it getting colder. They also noticed that the monsters started to be more active. They stopped shoveling, wiping the sweat from their faces.

"We need to stay the night somewhere safe," Shane muttered. Julia looked around, scanning the area, and suddenly jumped to a small hole in the wall, hidden underneath a stack of huge rocks. Without hesitation, she crouched down and slided inside, and Shane's breath hitched by that sight.

"What the fuck are you doing! This can't be secure!" he grumbled, but she just laughed and pushed against the rocks inside her little hiding spot. "Seem pretty secure to me! Come inside, it's perfect, the monsters won't find us here!"

Shane shook his head, even though she couldn't see. The little cave didn't even look big enough for both of them, heck it probably was barely big enough to fit him alone. He walked around, restless, thinking, scared to get attacked; he didn't even have a sword and she'd probably take a few seconds to crawl out again.

He heard heavy monster steps draw closer around the corner, and then it only took another "Come in!" from her to convince him. He crawled in hesitantly, trying his best not to touch her body, failing miserably. There was barely enough space for his right arm and leg to hold him upright beside her, his body hovering mostly above her. So he lay there, hovering, staring at the stones around their heads, trying not to stare at her face.

"It's not so bad, we can sleep here for tonight. It's kinda comfy!" she joked, ignoring how hard the rocks felt beneath her. He only grunted, lowering his body a little on top of her at the thought of staying like this for the whole night. After another few minutes of silence, he let go of the tension burning in his body, and slouched down on top of her, bodies touching from head to toe.

"Sorry," he whispered, quietly.

"It's okay!" she assured him. "We need to stay here for a while, no need to feel uncomfortable." He knew she was right, but his face burned, blushing furiously. He was alone and touch starved for years, and he definitely was never as close to anyone as to her right now. He quietly cursed her glow ring for illuminating their hiding spot a little, giving away how red his face was, though he would've missed the blush on her own face, and the goosebumps creeping over her skin whenever he breathed hot breath down her neck.

Even the darkness wouldn't have been able to hide the reaction of his body pressing on hers though. He could feel her breasts pressing against his chest, moving up and down as she breathed, and suddenly felt awfully hyper-aware of her leg touching his groin, and when he felt his pants tightening, it was already too late to try and crawl out of their hiding spot.

"Fuck," he cursed quietly under his breath. He was such a creep, being turned on by just touching her involuntarily, and he was sure this was the most awkward moment of his life. He tried to shuffle back, get out, but only managed to rub his hard-on even more on her side, pausing when a ghost flew by their hiding spot, making a loud, creepy noise. She grabbed his arms, holding onto him, and he noticed she was scared.

"Stay," she demanded, looking into his eyes, but he avoided her gaze.

He cursed himself even more in his head. She needed someone to protect and calm her right now, and all he did was rubbing his dick on her, and here she was, holding onto him, still too scared to want him away.

When she shifted underneath him, adding friction, he stifled a moan, holding his breath. Even if, by chance, she thought it was his phone pressing against her (she didn't know he didn't own a phone), there was no way she didn't notice by now, hearing his unsteady breathing, his hot red face, the lust in his eyes.

And he didn't even tell her his name yet.


	2. Chapter 2

Somehow, she managed to fall asleep. Shane didn't know how much time had passed, didn't know if the night was over. He painfully remembered the whole reason they were squished in this hole was because they needed to sleep, to be able to continue working their way out after. But there was no way he was thinking of sleeping now, still feeling his whole body burn, by shame and arousal equally. At least he could finally stop staring into rocks, now comfortably examining her sleeping face without her noticing. She wasn't blushing anymore, and he couldn't help but wonder what type of blush it was she had, allowing himself for just a second to wonder whether it was a blush of arousal like his. There was no way this was it though. It was probably more like second-hand embarassement for him, or the heat of being squished in here, something like that. Maybe she even felt sexually assaulted by him. But the thought of her being wet for his hard dick...

His hard-on twitched excitedly in his pants at the thought. Not good. Not the best way to wake a person you don't even really know. Forcing himself to shove away his thoughts, he concentrated on her face again, noticing it was dirty. Slowly, carefully, he lifted his left arm, swiping the dirt away softly. She hummed a small “hmm” in her sleep and he couldn't help but smile.

-

He only noticed he had fallen asleep when she woke him up, gently stroking over his arm. Relieved, he noticed his boner had faded away, and luckily wasn't replaced by a morning wood. He shamefully noticed that he had wrapped his arms around her tightly in his sleep. The embrace felt so good though. Still half asleep and tired, he wondered if he could pull off cuddling her for a longer while, but he mentally kicked himself and removed his arms quickly. This whole situation was already bad enough.

“Sorry for waking you up,” she whispered. “You look bad. But we should get out of here and continue. We need a softer bed than this,” she giggled quietly, trying to lighten the situation with a small joke. He nodded, absentmindedly, sleep-deprived. Carefully, he tried crawling out their little hiding spot backwards, trying his best not to rub his groin against her again. She followed him out soon after.

They got to work quietly and he noticed that she didn't feel comfortable with their silence. It was obvious she wanted to talk about something.

'Please don't,' he thought to himself.

“So, about last night...” she started and he wanted to scream at her. 'Don't bring it up.'

“I... You.. uhm,” she stammered. “You don't...”

“Shut it,” he lashed out. He regretted it immediately after, though he was glad he at least didn't scream. Now he was the asshole who not only rubbed his dick on her, he also forbid her to talk about it. Great. He was just too scared to talk about it though. Too scared what she had to say about it. Definitely too sleep-deprived to deal with this right now.

It took them awhile, working quietly, until she gathered her courage again to initiate another conversation. Thankfully, she dropped the topic though, trying something else.

“What's your name?” Right. He still never had told her his name.

“Shane.” he stated blankly. He didn't look at her, but he could see her smile in his spherical vision, hear it in her voice when she spoke again.

“Nice to meet you! How old are you? If I may ask...” Her voice got more quiet towards the end, unsteady, and he could kick himself for scaring her.

“Twenty-six,” he paused, unsure if he should continue. “And... how old are you?”

“Twenty!” she beamed happily. She shouldn't be this happy about such a dull conversation.

“Do you think your chicken made it back home? I can't hear her anymore.” He nodded.

“Yeah, she's surprisingly good at finding her way around. Like a cat.” He smiled, thinking about her, and when he turned his head to look at Julia, he found she was smiling at him too. Their eyes met and for a few seconds he couldn't get himself to look away, fighting the urge to hug her again. He wanted to feel her warmth like last night.

She looked at the rocks in front of them and almost jumped in surprise.  
“I can see the daylight! Look! We almost made it!” She let out a relieved laugh and he kept smiling, now working with renewed energy.

It took them some more time to get out of the mine. When they stepped outside, she looked at him with worry on her face.

“Should I bring you home? You really look bad.”

He looked at the ground, irritated about her mentioning him looking bad multiple times. She was probably right, he felt like he didn't sleep more than 15 minutes, he had probably dark purple rings under his eyes, standing out against his light skin. His head spun and he had no idea how his hair looked, probably ruffled and full of dirt.

But she shouldn't be so nice to him after all this, after him lashing out at her, being rude all the way, and... the whole hiding-spot-incident. He needed to protect her from being hurt by him, again and again. He only brought pain to everyone around him. And lastly, he needed to protect himself for falling for her.

“Look, we were forced to work together in that situation, but you need to stay away and leave me alone now.” With that, he turned around and left.

-

When she arrived at her farm, she quickly composed herself again. She checked the time; it was already afternoon. A twinge of guilt shot through her –  because of her trapping them inside the mines, he surely had missed his shift at JojaMart. Hopefully he wouldn't get fired because of her. 

She went over to checking on the animals, apologizing to them for leaving the coop and the barn open all night. Then she quickly tended to her crops, trying to at least do the daily necessities before falling into bed deadbeat at night.

Meanwhile, Shane arrived home safe too. Marnie already waited for him, furious. She was about to start a rant about him drinking and not coming home all night, about the poor Jas worrying for him when she didn't find him in his room in the morning, but when he asked with a worried look on his face if Charlie had made it home, she paused.

“Yeah, Charlie was suddenly in front of the entry door. I swear, if you drank all night-”

He sighed in relief. “She ran into the mines and I got stuck there. I'll go shower.” Without giving her a chance to apologize or worry about how messed up he looked, he made a beeline to the bathroom, locking the door.

He examined himself in the mirror. His Joja jacket was dirty and had a few new holes ripped into it. Great. He wouldn't get a new one anytime soon. He pushed the thought of missing his work today aside, he could deal with that tomorrow.

He checked his pants. They were dirty and dusty, but thankfully still intact.

His face however, looked bad. He was used to dark circles underlining his eyes, but they never looked as bad. He brushed his fingers through his dirty hair. Time to shower.

After showering, he deemed it necessary to talk to Jas. She was a smart child, too smart, and so he could barely hide his drinking problem from her. And now he had made her worry again. He cursed himself.

Before leaving the bathroom, he splashed cold water at his face and slapped his cheeks a few times, trying to bring color to them, to look less dead. He left the bathroom and looked at the clock. She should've arrived home from her schooling at the library while he was showering. He entered the kitchen and found her sitting at the table, beaming when she saw him.

“Uncle Shane! How was it, how was it?” He got himself a glass of water – when was the last time he drank something? – and looked at her in confusion, until she continued talking.

“Aunt Marnie said you had a sleepover at the old farm. Is the farmer nice? I only met her once.” she babbled. Shane blushed. Did Marnie know the farmer was with him in the mines, or was the story she made up for Jas a coincidence? Had he mentioned her in his sleep-deprived state?

Jas still stared at him in anticipation.

“Uh, yeah I guess.” he simply answered, shrugging his shoulders.

“What's her name?”

“Julia.”

“Do you like her?”

He blushed, taking a big gulp from his glass. It was the innocent question of a child, but he still didn't want to confess on a liking on her.

“I barely know her,” he simply stated. That was true. Thankfully, Jas didn't question him further, going back to drawing with her colored pencils. Still feeling bad for making her worry, he decided to keep her company for a longer while.

He had successfully shoved all thoughts of last night away, until he lay in bed. Despite being dead tired, he wasn't blessed with falling asleep fast, instead listening to the loud voice in his head, screaming and cursing at him, now that he lay in total silence. He pressed his fingers into the mattress. No chance he'd sleep like this.

He got up, opened his wardrobe, and even in the darkness, fished out a bottle with ease. The shameful thought of using his 'emergency alcohol' way too often didn't help, but the drink itself certainly would. He took a big gulp of the vodka, it tasting too strong for his liking, but he didn't care right now. He just needed to drown his thoughts somehow. Another swig followed, then another. Still, the shame about that night was painfully present in his head. Only when the sweet, sweet drowsiness set in, he managed to shove it away. His breathing slowed down and he noticed he had been tense all the time, finally relaxing his shoulders. After another swig, he looked at the bottle and noticed it was almost half empty already. He had drunk too much too fast, probably regretting it as soon as the effects would kick in.  
Hiding the bottle between his drawer and his bed, he lay down and braced himself. It wasn't really new to him, though he preferred enjoying lots of beers instead of downing hard liquor. For a moment, he contemplated rolling on his side, knowing that he could suffocate on his own vomit if he fell unconscious, but he couldn't bring himself to care enough.

His mind raced back to last night, but this time he managed to blank out the thoughts of shame, instead thinking about how soft her body had felt underneath his. Soft breasts pressed against his chest, just the right size for his liking. He closed his eyes, his vision was unpleasantly blurred anyway, and let himself indulge in his memories, pants tightening. Her flushed face, the long brown hair, spread untidily around her head... Light blue eyes gazing at him, but he never met them, rather staring at rocks. The feel of her body moving against his every time she shifted... And, just for now, he swore to himself in his drunken state, he let himself imagine that she liked it all. That she enjoyed feeling his body against hers just like he did, that she got wet when she felt his boner against her body, that she moved her leg on purpose, giving him the friction he desperately needed. His hand wandered down his body and into his pants, touching his already hard boner, imagining it was her touching him. Her hands would feel so soft on him, just like the skin on her face when he touched it last night... He stroked himself slowly, head spinning from the alcohol, but he didn't care.

His body felt hot from it too, mixed with the heat of arousal, and his head started to feel fuzzy and high, and he loved all of it. Those were the moments he felt good, the moments he could forget about his hatred for himself, his problems, his shame.

It all rushed back to him after spilling in his pants, new shame added to the old one.


	3. Chapter 3

The beeping of his alarm felt like thousands of little knifes stabbing his head painfully. 6:30 in the morning was way too early, especially after almost no sleep the night before, _especially_ with a bad hangover like his right now. Even when he hit his alarm clock to silence it, the throbbing pain in his head stayed, as if to remind him that half a bottle of vodka was way too much. At least he didn't throw up, though a part of him wished he'd suffocate on his vomit. At least then he wouldn't have to get up, go to work and deal with Morris...

He stumbled towards the bathroom, noticing the world was still spinning around him. Was it the hangover, or was he still drunk? The latter would be worse, Morris would kill him if he noticed, coming to work drunk after missing with no excuse yesterday. His shower was quick, having no energy left to wash himself thoroughly. Afterwards, he forced himself to drink water and eat some stale bread.

He wasn't ready, but it was time to deal with his shit job.

-

Julia was up even earlier than Shane, trying to continue with her usual routine. She was tired, but it was okay, feeling thankful for sleeping in her own soft bed instead of the hard ground. Her back still hurt a little, and she wondered if it was different for Shane, blushing when she thought about how he lay on top of her. She was definitely softer than the ground. Shoving the thought away, she continued with her farm work. Shane had made clear that he didn't want anything to do with her, so she shouldn't waste any thoughts on him. She still hoped that he wouldn't get in trouble at work because of her though.

-

They successfully stayed away from each other until next Friday.

Shane was in his usual spot in the saloon, enjoying the sweet bitterness of his beer. Much better than vodka. His daily routine was back like before the whole incident, the only difference being that he allowed himself to reminisce about it at some drunk nights while touching himself, adding to the shame he already felt. Otherwise he did his best to suppress any thoughts regarding that night.

Morris had screamed at him the morning he went to work again, threatening to fire him, but nothing happened, thankfully. A part of him was bitter about it; being fired and never having to go to JojaMart again sounded like bliss, but he needed the money.

Seeing her step into the saloon, dressed up in a nice short dress, felt like healing wounds being ripped open. Sometimes he tried to tell himself that the farmer didn't even exist, that he had made it all up, but seeing her standing there made it impossible. He felt all the shame bubble up again, taking another huge swig of his beer. It didn't help that her eyes landed immediately on him, like he was the first thing that came to her mind when she stepped in.

Abigail ran up to her, giggling, and pulled her in their usual corner with Sam and Sebastian. He felt relieved that he didn't need to worry about her coming over to him, but he did feel a twinge of jealousy when Sam sat close to her on the couch, his arm resting on the backrest behind her, dangerously close to actually putting it around her.

'It's not jealousy,' he told himself in his head. 'You don't even know her.'

Julia took a sip of her beer and laughed at a joke Sam made. She already felt slightly tipsy, as she wasn't used to drinking alcohol. She had decided to relax tonight, to stop worrying about all the work she had to do, and even got herself all dressed up. Occasionally, she peeked into the corner where Shane stood, more often catching him look at her than not. She wouldn't mind if it wasn't for him telling her to stay away before. What was his deal, telling **her** to keep her distance, and then staring at her!? She should really stop thinking about him. Instead, she concentrated back on Sam. Sebastian and Abigail had started playing billiard, so it was just the two of them on the couch now.

“Sometimes I miss the city,” Sam starts. “It can be a little boring here. But I love Pelican Town. I couldn't find cool people to form a band in the city.” She mirrors his smile.

“Yeah, I get that. My time in the city feels like a different life, and I do miss some stuff, but there's so much stuff I don't miss at all.”

“Some of the townsfolk here are weird though.” Now his gaze shifted to Shane, and probably one or two other people. “Did you ever talk to Shane? He's **always** drunk, I'm telling you. And super rude!” She flinched at the sound of his name.

“Maybe he just wants to be left alone,” she tries defending him. She doesn't know why, what Sam said was true, and she actually had even more reasons to rant about him. But she didn't want to make it worse for him by joining in rumors. Thankfully, Sam took the hint and changed the topic.

“Anyway... your dress looks great!” He shuffled a little closer, and she tensed, but smiled at him anyway. 'Keep calm,' she told herself.

“Thanks! I wanted to wear something clean for a change,” she laughed.

“It's great. Oh, there's something in your hair.” With that, he leaned close into her, carefully removing a small leaf from her hair and throwing it on the ground. He didn't pull back though, his face dangerously close to hers, looking into her eyes, and she tilted her face down, scared he might kiss her. Not wanting to meet his eyes, she looked around the bar, locking eyes with Shane by accident. This time, he didn't look away, instead looking conflicted, then walked over to where they were sitting on the couch.

“Sorry,” he mumbled. Then noticed he was speaking too quietly, and coughed, continuing louder. “Lewis wants to talk to you, something about the egg festival.” Julia noticed that his voice sounded slurred, but he obviously did his best to hide it. She nodded.

“Right, I forgot he wanted to talk to me!” She jumped up from her seat, following Shane towards the direction where Lewis stood. They both turned around and checked whether Sam could still see them around the corner, but the coast was clear.

Instead of joining at Marnie's and Lewis' table, they rushed out the door, giggling.

“For a second I thought you actually had to talk to Lewis and I fucked up by lying!” Shane laughed.

She smiled at him happily, still giggling. It was the first time she saw him laughing.

“Imagine I'd walk up to him like 'Shane told me you want to talk _right now_ '!” she laughed back.

After calming down from giggling and laughing, she felt a slight awkwardness set in.

“Thanks for... helping me. I guess.” She felt weird, since Sam didn't do anything bad to her. But she was still thankful for Shane to get her out of that situation. “I can't really get back in now I guess... and I think I drank enough anyway.” she giggled again, feeling somewhat intoxicated, face a slight shade of red. Then she noticed that feeling of contemplation again on his face. It always felt like... like he was fighting with himself in his head.

“I'll walk you home.” he stated. Not offered, stated. And started walking, slowly, waiting for her to follow.

“Can you help me walk?” she giggled, pretending to waver around too much to walk without falling – though it was most likely partly true. She really had too much by her standards; obviously pushing her luck with Shane now. But she was lucky again, he let out a long sigh and reluctantly offered his arm, and she happily jumped to his side, letting him support her. His hand rested ever so softly on her waist, like he was scared of touching her, while she slung her own arm around his waist, applying a lot more pressure by leaning into him for support. And so they walked, probably wavering more than if they had walked separately, as he had drunk more than her and didn't have the balance to compensate her weight leaning into him. Neither of them complained though.

The thought of wanting to keep his distance from her lingered in the back of his mind, reminding him that he did everything wrong tonight. He should've left her and Sam alone, so what if he kissed her against her will? She was an adult and could just turn him down if needed, and Sam was descent enough to understand and back away, as far as he knew. But at that moment, he just couldn't ignore the look of panic in her eyes when their gazes had met, and so he had allowed himself to give in to the urge to pull her away. Why did she panic, anyway? And why did she comfortably hug her arm around **him** now? She still didn't know him, aside from name and age, plus he was always rude. While Sam looked friendly and somewhat well-groomed, Shane looked consistently deadbeat and unkempt, with his run down clothes, unshaven face, the dark rings under his eyes. If you would ask a stranger which one of them was a potential a criminal, he was sure everyone would agree it was him. She definitely had no reason to trust him a little bit.

He got lost in his train of thoughts, now wondering if she had some kind of ulterior motive to get close to him. Helper syndrome? Did she think she could cure him from his depression and alcoholism? There was surely nothing to gain from him.

For now he pretended that he didn't enjoy the warmth of her body against his side.

-

Shane thought he would be spared from seeing her until next Friday, going back to pretending she only existed in his fantasies, so he wasn't prepared when she suddenly stood in his doorway right next morning. Marnie had Lewis over again, 'discussing business' or whatever they called it, so he had locked himself into his room and eventually had started touching himself of the thought of the very girl who now looked him into the eyes. When there was a knock on the door, Marnie had called for him to take over the ranches shop for now, so he had just tucked himself in, threw on a wide comfy jacket, and opened the door. He surely looked disheveled now, and actually felt like she was intruding his privacy, though it wasn't her fault. He faked a yawn, going for the 'I look like this because I just woke up, surely not because I masturbated to you'-look.

“Oh,” she exclaimed, obviously surprised to seeing Shane. Or was it because of his looks? Because she saw through him? He felt self-conscious. “Is the shop not open today?”

Shane shook his head. “It's open. Marnie is a little busy, but I'll help.” Hearing that, she stepped further in and leaned on the counter.

“Okay, that's great. I thought about buying a few chickens.”

He stifled a smile when he heard this. He loved chickens.

“Come,” he simply demanded, walking into the chicken coop. She followed reluctantly. Shane kneeled down beside a heat lamp, where lots of small, cute chicks gathered, enjoying the warmth. He fondly patted some of the chicks, then looked to her, who stared with a smile on her face, but kept her distance.

“How many did you plan to buy?” he asked.

“Uh... Maybe two at first. I never really saw chickens up close before, much less cared for them. Oh, but don't worry! I read up all about it on the Internet! I think...”

He picked up two of the chicks. They looked so small and fragile, standing on his palms, but he handled them with ease.

“These two are super healthy and energetic, and aren't shy either, so I recommend buying them.”

It felt so out of character, seeing him handle the animals lovingly and speak like a professional. He wasn't particularly nice to her, but still, it felt... so different. She nodded.

“I'll take them!”

He stood up, chicks still in hand, and got a small plastic cage out of a cupboard. Carefully, he put them inside, and walked back into the house, with Julia quietly following him. He put the cage on the counter and she payed.

“I'll bring them to your coop with you.” he stated, but got reminded on his disheveled state when he ran a hand through his ruffled hair. “Uh, could you wait here for a moment?” Without her answering, he left into the bathroom. He combed his hair quickly, splashed some water on his face, put on shorts instead of his sweatpants and checked himself in the mirror. Yup. Now he looked his normal level of messiness.

When he left the bathroom, he found her bowing down and looking into the cage with a sweet smile. He was glad that she seemed to like the chicks.

“Do you want to carry the cage?” he asked. She put up her hands in refusal.

“What if I move it to much and they get hurt?”

He thought about describing to her how to carry it best, but dismissed the thought. Way too much talking early in the morning. Plus, he already was way too friendly, even walking to her farm with her. But the chicks came first, he had to check if her coop was alright for them. So he just took the cage and walked out the door.

“So... you live with Marnie?” she asked as they walked towards her farm. He sighed, but nodded wordlessly.

“She's not your mother, is she?”

“Aunt.”

She nodded knowingly and spared him from more small talk until they arrived at her farm, curiosity satisfied with his short answer.

“So... this is it.” She held out her arms, presenting the coop as they stepped inside. She had an insecure smile on her face. He put the cage on the ground and looked around, checking the whole coop, but he felt very satisfied with it. The coop was actually big enough for at least twelve chickens, there was enough food, even different kinds. The floor was soft with all the straw she had spread around.

“A little too much straw on the floor,” he stated and noticed she was looking a bit scared, like she'd get in trouble for it. It was actually quite amusing. “The chicks won't mind, but it'll be a pain in the ass to clean when they poop everywhere.” She seemed relieved at that.

“I don't mind.” she smiled. He opened the cage and the chicks left, first reluctantly, then excited, checking their new home. Shane told her some more about how to care for them and what to consider. After mentioning heat lamps – though these two chicks were old enough they didn't need them anymore – she decided to buy a heat lamp from Marnie's shop. They had looked so happy, sitting below it in the ranches coop.

So they both walked back to the ranch in silence, leaving the chicks to explore their home in peace.

“Thanks for everything,” she smiled at him, breaking the silence after a while. He grunted quietly. This was a good moment to make it clear again.

“We're not friends or anything, I'm just filling in for Marnie.”

She nodded, smile having left her face. “Still. I would thank her too if she was the one helping me so much with the chicks. It doesn't have to mean anything.”

Fair enough, he thought.

Marnie stood behind the counter when they arrived, Lewis standing on the other side of it.

“Oh, good morning! Where are you two coming from?” Marnie greeted them happily. Lewis nodded towards them too, smiling. Shane grunted and meant to rush to his room, now that Marnie could take over, but knowing him, she blocked his way and put a hand on his shoulder.

“Ah, I bought two chickens and we dropped them off at my coop, but I want to buy a heat lamp just in case,” Julia smiled kindly at Marnie, back in full-friendly-mode.

“That's great! Thanks for taking care of it,” Marnie smiled at Shane, who just shrugged his shoulders.

“That really is great!” Lewis said. “Speaking of chickens, there's a chicken breeding contest in a village two hours away from here.” He held up a flyer, and Julia noticed a sparkle in Shane's eyes. They both stepped a bit closer to Lewis, reading the flyer.

“ **Chicken breeding contest!**

Ever thought your chickens are the most beautiful, biggest, or most special ones all around the valley? Then this is the right contest for you!

\- groups of 2 people each

\- you have to breed the chickens yourself

\- register until 20th of spring

\- you have to document your breeding process for one year with daily photographs and weekly diaries

\- contest day will be 1st of summer in Sparrow Town

**Win 100.000g**!”

Shane turned towards Marnie expectantly, opening his mouth to talk, but knowing what he was thinking, she cut him off.

“Lewis asked me if we want to participate together and I accepted.”

Shane's shoulders dropped in disappointment. Julia tensed, feeling awkward watching this, as it felt like a personal family thing. She wanted to leave, but Lewis turned to look at her.

“Julia can be your partner!” he stated with a smile. Marnie nodded at that.

“You can teach her everything about how to care for and breed chickens, and at the same time join the contest together!”

Julia felt a bit overwhelmed, not knowing what to answer; she could use the money, and it sounded like fun, but... Shane surely wouldn't want that.

He looked at her, with that grumpy, thoughtful look she already knew. But instead of saying something, he shrugged his shoulders and left into his room, leaving everyone staring at the closed door.

Julia gave Marnie and Lewis an apologetic smile, as if she was the one who had to feel sorry.

“I guess I'll just buy that heat lamp and head home,” she said, digging out her purse.

“Sorry for putting you in an awkward spot,” Marnie apologized as she took the heat lamp out of a cupboard and put it on the counter. “I'll give you a discount on that.”

Julia thanked her and went her way.

Back on the farm, she went into the coop first, inspecting the chickens. 'I barely know how to take care of them,' she thought. 'I shouldn't join this contest after owning chicken for literally only one hour anyway.'

She still felt sad about it.


End file.
